Top News:
Meg James / Los Angeles Times:
LA Times Guild accepts 20% cut in pay and hours for its members for 12 weeks starting May 10, saving the paper $2M+; the guild represents nearly 440 journalists — Los Angeles Times' newsroom guild agreed Friday to accept a 20% reduction in pay and hours for its members amid a devastating decline …
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Aaron Freedman / American Prospect:
Five years ago, unions barely existed in digital media, and now 35 digital media brands are unionized; organizing continues amid the pandemic — Five years ago, unions barely existed in digital media. Today, they may save the industry from the worst of the COVID-19 depression—and provide a model to other working professionals.
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@michaelsocolow, @ddayen, @rebekahlsanders, @hearstunion, @bfnewsunion, @jeffyoung, @freedaaron, @cb1rd, @caitmunro, @hearstunion, @ddayen, @saraqdavid, @jeffyoung, @dylanmatt, @yourmandevine and @kerrymflynn
Alayna Treene / Axios:
Trump's new press secretary Kayleigh McEnany held the first official White House press briefing since March 11, 2019, and claims “I will never lie to you” — President Trump's new press secretary Kayleigh McEnany held her first White House briefing on Friday, the first official press briefing since March 11, 2019.
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New York Times, @ddale8, CNN, @washingtonpost, The Wrap, Washington Post, Vox, @atrupar, @alaynatreene, @paulhrosenberg, @froomkin, @factcheckdotorg, @aaronblake, @yamiche, @anncoulter, @atrupar, @ddale8, Press Watch, @acosta, @froomkin, New York Daily News, HuffPost, Hollywood Reporter, Forbes, Bloomberg, FactCheck.org, Mediaite, Breitbart, Politico, Jezebel, Slate, Fox News, Washington Post, Raw Story, The Guardian, NBC News, The Independent, Fox News, Mediaite, Raw Story, Fox News and Mediaite
Ben Smith / New York Times:
News Corp says David Rhodes, a former Fox News exec and once CBS News president, has been advising News Corp's UK operation, speculating a return to Fox News — David Rhodes, a news executive who has held leadership roles at CBS News and Bloomberg, has been advising the media empire's British operation.
Discussion:
@benyt, @edmundlee, @oliverdarcy, @bristei, @jeffjarvis, @davidfolkenflik, Variety and Financial Times
Seb Joseph / Digiday:
Amazon's ad business grew 44% YoY in Q1 to $3.91B, faster than Google and Facebook, but the typical advertiser's spend/day was halved at end of March vs January — The coronavirus lockdowns have helped Amazon swallow more ad dollars. That's likely to be a long-term gain for the retailer-cum-ad-business.
Discussion:
Adweek, Vox, VentureBeat, TechCrunch, AdExchanger and Protocol, more at Techmeme »
Dan Kennedy / Media Nation:
Report for America's co-founders explain decision to send journalists to Gannett and McClatchy outlets, saying doing so better serves readers and communities — How much support do newspapers owned by cost-cutting corporate chains deserve? It's a dilemma.
Bobbie Johnson / MIT Technology Review:
Pandemic conspiracy theories are being spread using Wayback Machine links of content already discredited by fact-checkers and even deleted — Pandemic conspiracy theorists are using the Wayback Machine to promote “zombie content” that evades moderators and fact-checkers.
Reuters:
Sources: NBCUniversal has reportedly started discussing cost-cutting measures, including significant layoffs across its media and entertainment properties — (Reuters) - Comcast Corp (CMCSA.O) owned NBCUniversal is evaluating a significant reduction of staff across its portfolio of media …
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, Seeking Alpha, @spwells, @ashkan, @lilliannnn, The Hill, @owillis and Reuters
Mark Di Stefano / @markdistef:
Financial Times media and technology correspondent Mark Di Stefano, who had been suspended for accessing confidential Zoom calls at rival publications, resigns — Hi, letting everyone know today was my last day at the FT. This afternoon I offered my resignation. Thank you everyone who has given support. I'm now going to take some time away and log off x
Meg James / Los Angeles Times:
Charlie Plowman, owner of Outlook Newspapers, buys the assets of three recently shut down papers from the California Times; 14 laid off staff won't be rehired — Charlie Plowman, owner of Outlook Newspapers in La Cañada Flintridge, has acquired the assets of three recently shuttered newspapers …
Discussion:
@acrostical, @niemanlab, @myglendale, @sammy_roth, @megjameslat and @burbankca
ABC:
Judge orders Google to pay AU$40K in a defamation case, calls Google a publisher, saying it's designed by humans who can remove objectionable content — Google has been ordered to pay $40,000 in damages to a Melbourne lawyer after a Supreme Court of Victoria ruling found the internet giant was a publisher, and had defamed the man.
Discussion:
@holden, @jbenton, @jbenton, @joshbbornstein, Beyond Search and Reclaim The Net
KC Ifeanyi / Fast Company:
Pandora founder Tim Westergren launches Sessions, a free live-streaming platform for artists where audiences can leave tips, in beta in 200+ countries — Disillusioned after leaving Pandora, Tim Westergren set out to create a better kind of streaming platform. Can he save struggling artists while redeeming himself?
Discussion:
@pennyfractions and CelebrityAccess, more at Techmeme »